Device for drying hair



Filed Feb. 13, 1948 G. F. JAUBERT 2,563,042

DEVICE FOR DRYING HAIR 2 Sheets-Sheet l //V VE/VTOK Ems 42' gin/c0410641%64 Aug. 7, 1951 e. F. JAUBERT DEVICE FOR DRYING HAIR 2 Sheeis-Sh'eet2 Filed Feb. 15, 1948 ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 7, 1951 DEVICE FOR DRYINGHAIR,

George F. J aubert, Paris, France Application February 13, 1948, SerialNo. 8,196 In France March 1, 1947 Claims. (01. 3480) My inventionrelates "in an improved process and to devices and apparatus for a quickand economicaldrying of female hair after washing.

In the practice of hair-dressing, one branch of which compriseshair-dyeing operations, washing has an important role; and the saiddyeing and.

washing operations require of necessity subsequent drying.

To this end, various forms of apparatus have been designed, and thoseare used in hair-dressing salons; they usually comprise a kind of hoodor helmet or head set which covers the customers head; on top of thishead set there is provided an electric fan or ventilator which draws inthe outside air and forces it through the hair to be dried, this airbeing pre-heated by means of an electric resistor (generallyaccommodated within the head set) In spite of the use of thiscontrivance, this procedure unfortunately requires a rather long timefor drying the hair thoroughly, especially if the latter is full ofcurls or ringlets; this time can vary between 30 and 40 minutes.

Gne of the objects of my invention consists in an improvement in thealready known methods for drying. the hair, which is characterized by apreliminary dehydration of the air used for drying the hair, thisdehydration being achieved, as thoroughly as possible, before theadmission of the air into the utilization apparatus, preferably by meansof a dehydrant which can be restored, that is to say, regenerated byheating at a relatively low temperature.

Other objects of my invention consists in devices which permit ofputting this improvement into practice.

These devices substantially comprise a ventilator which sucks in theoutside moist air and forces it through the dehydrant, transferring tothe same any moisture it contained. This dry air, as it leaves thedehydrant, is already moderately warm (at about 40 C.) because of therelease of heat due to the phenomenon of condensation of the water-vaporthat was dissolved in the surrounding air. I have ascertained that thisrise in temperature amounts to about2.5 0. per gram of water containedin a cubic meter of dried air.

According to a modification of my invention, the ventilator which formsa part of every modern drier helmet employed in hair-drying is used as ameans for propelling the air. In this latter case, the ventilator sucksin the air through a receptacle of any shape, which contains thedehydrant; this receptacle may be an integral part of the helmet, or isconnected to the latter by way of a flexible pipe.

Just as it is, this dry, tepid air may be employed for drying hair, butas this air is completely dehydrated, it would bring about through thequick evaporation of the water permeating the hair, a fall intemperatureof about 20 C., which could cause the customer to catch a chill (cold inthe head, coryza, etc.) so it is preferable to warm up this air to about50 or 0., its temperature being raised by 10 to 20 through any knownmeans whatever.

As the hair becomes dry, damp air is rejected in the outside atmosphere.

Of dehydrants which can be regenerated at a low temperature, generallyin situ, between and C., and which may be especially recommended for theparticular application in view of my invention, one, called Carbagel, iswell known; others are equally well suited as for instance silica gel,activated alumina, etc. These will have the advantage of being drysubstances, in the form of grains having the size of a pea 0r hazel-nut,and offering hereby but a small loss of pressure to the passing of airblown or sucked in by the ventilator.

On the other hand, for their regeneration, when made electrically, theyinvolve an important waste of energy, practically of the order of 2 to 3kilowatt-hours per kilogram of water to be evaporated.

It is therefore essential to make use of their dehydrating propertiesonly in the strict proportion of the need of the dehydrated air which isrequired for supplying with dry air the hair drier or hair driers inservice as will be hereinafter described.

My invention will be better understood by means of the accompanyingdrawings and corresponding descriptions, illustrating, by Way ofnonlimitative examples, several types of embodiment.

Figure 1 is a sectional drawing of the simplest possible equipment,employing the ventilator'of a hair-drier of the usual type forsucking-in the outside air through the substance of the dehydrant, andensuring also the subsequent regeneration in-situ of the latter;

Fig. 2 is a sectional drawing of an equipment comprising a ventilatorseparate from the hairdrier, insufllating the outside air through thedehydrant;

Fig. 3 shows how the latter equipment operates in the regeneration stageof the dehydrant;

Fig. 4 shows a central plant for dehydrating the air, supplying a bankof hair-driers by means of a ventilator;

Fig. 5 shows in profile one of the hair-driers of the said bank; and

Fig. 6 shOWs a modification of the central dehydrating plant whichoperates by means of compressed air furnished from a distribution pipe-Work.

According to Fig. 1, an apparatus with one single drier helmet isconstituted in the following manner. A certain quantity of dehydratingmatter C islcontained inatank'B in the formiof a tight box, the bottomof which comprises an aperture A. This box is supported by a stand U. Abasket-like container Q bearing on bars J is accommodated in the box B.The side walls of: this container, which are not tight, let the air flowtherethrough, whereas its upper and under walls are tight.

In the direction of the axis of the container, there is provided acylindrical recess R whose walls are apertured in a like mannerasare-the side walls of the container. An electric resistor E forheatingthe air is placed in the. interior of this recess; this heater E isconnected to the terminals s and maybe protected by a perforated flue Lwhich is connected to the inlet A- The volume of the tankB. leftoutside'the: container Q is: connected by way of the flexible pipe T with theinlet tube'of theventilator V blowing into the helmet K, the set being.mountedon an adjustable stand F.

During a hair-dressing operation, outside'air sucked in by apertureiAfiows through :thezsubstance C which takes ofi'its moisture; then itpasses by way of the-"piping T into ventilator V' which blows it intohelmetKthrough'the pa- 7 ti'ents hair.

During a regeneration, resistor E is switched on; ventilator V sucks inthe heated air charged with the water-vapor coming out from the absorbing substance that was permeated with water in the course of thedrying operations, and this air is blown outin the outside atmosphere.

With the modification shown inFigiZ, the ventilator is separate from thehair-drier proper: it is accommodated in the stand of the containercontaining the dehydrating matter. On the other hand, the heater E- isaccommodated in'a receptacle arranged outside the said container at itsoutlet. In that figure, thesame members are designated by the samereference characters as in Fig: 1, without'being further described. The.intake A of the container B is connected to the outlet of the ventilatorV by the intermediary of a four-way cock X. 'Theoutlet' or the containerB is connected to the receptacle enclosing the heater E, the other endof this receptacle being connected to the helmet'K by the flexible pipeT through the'cockX. Fig; 2 shows the device in-working condition; theresistor E can then be used to warm up the dried air, as was. alreadyexplained.

Fig. 3 shows the device in regenerating condition. Cock X has beenturned on, Whi'ch'brings about a reversal of the aircirculatiomasindicated by the arrows, with respect to the circulation inFig. 2.

It will be seen that the outside air sucked in bythe ventilator is atfirst forced through the heater E powered by line P; this air warms; upand is further forced into container B through the dehydrating matter,taking off" the water that was fixed thereon; finally, the'air'chargedwith water vapor is blown out in the outside atmosphere through thecock'X' and exhaust W.

In Figs. 2 and 3, there is shown at Ya device for regulating the flow;it is a by-pass. channel situated between the inlet and'ou'tlet' oi" theven- 4 tilator V, which is controlled by a valve provided with acalibrated spring. When pressure rises at the exhaust, that is to saywhen the utilization flow is being reduced, the valve Y is increasinglyopened, and thus the volume of air admitted into the ventilator is moreand more diverted from the exhaust, so as to reduce con- I sumption: inthe-same-proportion.

In thecase ofa hair-'dressing'salonof a large scale, where severalhair-drying helmets are available, instead of having one air-dehydrating.deviee-oithe kind described for each helmetwhich devices could be setto work according to the needs, i.=e. the presence and number ofcustomers-4t is more convenient and also more economical, if oneconsiders the costs involved by dehydration of damp air, to use but onedehydrating plant, that could be called the central plant; this plantsupplies with dry air, by means of an. appropriate piping, theseveraliseparate helmets installed: in the. salon.

If the separate. helmets are eachprovidedwith a ventilator, it is onlynecessary to'connect them to a main piping which: is amply dimensionedand which ends in a big tank of the kind-shown in Fig. 1, containing thedehydrant'; eachfiex'ible pipe connects the main piping toiahair-idrierprovided with a valve permanently." closed when the ventilator of the.tha-iredrier not; so as to avoid any' passage of dampail" into the mainpiping.

On the contrary, if one ventilator only plies the individualhair-driers, noxone ofithem having its ownventilator, it necessary,;iorusing the restorable dehydrant' in the mosteconomi'cal way, that thiscentral plant: for drying the air could deliver dry air only inproportion of the number of the helmets actually in service at'a time,even if there-were one of them only, the optimum pressures. appropriate.for? a. particular helmet being ensured inany case, as'can: be readilywell conceived.

The device of'Fig. ifulfills these requirements.

The installation, comprising thehel mets- K1, K'a'Kx, etc. tapped onthemainpiping D, .is supplied with'air under pressure by meansof-anelectric ventilator througha device which will be, inthe generalcaseconsideredxa device quite similar to; the one of Fig. 2,comprisingthe same members designated by the same reference-characters.The ventilator will be'capable'of delivering a quantity of air largeenough for ensuring the service-of the'total ityof thehelmets'Ki, K2,

etc. when they work'all at" the same time. It is necessary to limit thefiow of the venti lator to the normal value correspondin to thenumber-of helmets 'in serviceso to as toprop- 'erl'y use-the restorabledehydrant.

To this end, there is introduced between the stop valv Z1, Z2, Z3, etc.of-each helmet Kr, K2, K3, etc. and thehelmet itself an opticalregulating device comprising a gauged aperture 0 and a sensitivemanometer M indicating the pressure existing between the valve and thegauged hole, which pressure is adjusted at its optimum value once forall; this pressure is maintained in the course'of a drying of. hair'hyactuating the valve, whateverbe the number. of helmets'in serviceysoastoensure the appropriate. flow of dry air inthe helmet used.

Thustheflow 'deliveredlby the ventilator is moderated, with the result.that, although the ventilator runs at, constantspeed, there. passesthrough the restorable dehydrantbut thenceessary fraction of the volumenormally delivered by the ventilator when it blows air with a maximum ofpower, or, in other words, when it supplies simultaneously with dry airthe whole bank of helmets.

It is also possible, while still maintaining the full flow of theventilator, to make use of the regulating method of auto-pumping,meaning thereby the return to the ventilator intake of the air blow inexcess, by means of the by-pass with the calibrated valve Y, theoperation of which has already been explained in the foregoing.

According to a modification of my invention, (Fig. 6), instead of aventilator, I employ compressed air distributed by a system of pipes, asexists in certain large cities equipped with a municipal system ofdistribution of compressed air.

With a view to reduce the expense of compressed air, the same is onlyused as motive power supplying an injector system I of a known type,which sucks in an important and gratuitous proportion of outside air.These two fluids, mixed together, then flow through the apparatuscontaining the dehydrant.

In this modification, adjustment for the number of helmets in servicecan be made either directly by the valve G regulating the admission ofcompressed air to the injector, Or automatrcally by making use of theauto-pumping system Y as indicated in Figs. 2 to 4.

In other respects, the apparatus comprises the same members as in theforegoing embodiments, which are referred to by the same characters.

What I claim is:

1. Device for hair drying, comprising: at least one drier helmet havingan air supply passage therein; a dehydrating apparatus containing as adehydrating mass, grains of a material regenerable at a temperaturebetween 100 and 150 C. by circulation of hot air between said grains,said apparatus having two openings; a heating system having twoopenings, one of which is connected to a corresponding one of thedehydrating apparatus; an apparatus for forcibly blowing air; a four-waycock, one way being connected to the exhaust opening of the airblowingapparatus, another to the air supply passage of the said drier helmetand the two others to passages leading to said heating system and saiddehydrating apparatus.

2. Device with several helmets, according to claim 1, in which theintake and exhaust openings of the air blowing apparatus are connectedto gether by a by-pass having a valve with a calibrated spring, forautomatically controlling the flow of the air blown to the number ofhelmets in service.

3. A device according to claim 1, in which the air blowing apparatus isa jet injector connected to a supply pipe distributing compressed air.

4. A device with several helmets, according to claim 1, includingbetween the air supply passage and each helmet a visual adjustmentsystem for the optimum flow of air, the said system being constituted byan adjustment valve, a constricted orifice arranged in the supplypassage to each helmet, an extension pipe connected with said supplypassage between said valve and said orifice, and a manometer connectedwith said extension pipe.

5. Device for hair drying, comprising: at least one drier helmet havingan air supply passage therein, a dehydrating apparatus containing adehydrating mass, grains of a material regenerable at a temperaturebetween and C. by circulation of hot air between said grains, saidapparatus having two openings, a heating system having two openings, oneof which is connected to a corresponding one of the dehydratingapparatus, an apparatus for forcibly blowin air, a four-way cock, oneway being connected to the exhaust opening of the airblowing apparatus,another to the air supply passage of the said drier helmet and the twoothers to passages leading to said heating system and said dehydratingapparatus, and means for connecting the openings not interconnected ofsaid dehydratin apparatus and or" said heating system selectively on onehand to the air supply passage of said drier helmet and to the exhaustopening of the air blowing apparatus respectively, and on the other handto said exhaust opening and to said air supply passage respectively.

GEORGE F. JAUBERT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,924,255 Prat Aug. 29, 19331,924,849 Fonda Aug. 29, 1933 1,970,766 Pfahl Aug. 21, 1934 2,066,847.McShea Jan. 5, 1937 2,083,732 Moore et a1 June 15, 1937 2,125,646Nessell Aug. 2, 1938 2,127,121 Kelley Aug. 16, 1938 2,190,168 ArmisteadFeb. 13, 1940 2,278,854 Hunsicker Apr. 7, 1942

